Juicy Turkey Burgers - Healthy Recipes Blog (2024)

FAQs

How to keep turkey burgers from drying out? ›

Turkey burgers always sound like a great idea, but they too often taste like a fat sawdust patty. No more, friends! Mashing avocado into the turkey mixture helps prevent the meat from shrinking and drying out during cooking, which is why these stay awesomely juicy, even when they're cooked all the way through.

Add a spoonful of mayonnaise.

Most recipes use egg to bind ground turkey, helping the meat to form into cohesive, juicy patties.

A Note About Ground Turkey

Typically the leaner the turkey, the 'drier' it is. So, for ease, use a leaner ground turkey. Adding milk to the patty and stuffing each patty with butter will help keep your turkey burgers moist and juicy.

"Ground turkey contains less saturated fat than ground beef, giving it a more beneficial fat profile," says Beaver. "In its place, ground turkey instead contains more polyunsaturated fat, which is a protective, healthier type of fat."

2. Ensure Pleasing Texture and Richer Taste. Even 93 percent lean ground turkey—often the fattiest preground turkey you can buy—can still taste too lean and can easily dry out during cooking. To temper those effects, we added 2 tablespoons of melted butter to the meat, along with a panade of milk and panko.

A little extra moisture helps even well-done burgers stay juicy and tender, even if they're made from 90% lean ground beef. Mix in 1/4-1/2 cup water per pound of ground beef before forming your patties to reap the tenderizing benefit of H20. Some chefs tuck an ice cube into the middle of the patty for the same effect.

Just half a beaten egg in the raw meat will work as a binder to hold it all together. Just be sure to mix it into the meat well before forming patties. Turkey burgers are really worth the extra effort. When they turn out well, they are a fantastic burger that stand alone as great BBQ food.

Just like in a traditional meatloaf, you need something to hold the meat together. Try adding some dry breadcrumbs to the turkey mixture before you shape the patties. The crumbs will absorb the moisture and, together with the egg, will act like glue and help your burgers maintain their shape on the grill.

Turkey burgers are much leaner than hamburgers, but they can be dry and dull. Moisten them by adding ketchup and a bit of grated onion to the ground turkey — or mayonnaise and a bit of mustard. The idea is to emphasize condiments, and keep the turkey moist.

Mushrooms add moisture, mouthfeel, and umami (beefy) flavor to the otherwise dry ground turkey. When mushrooms are chopped up into little bits, they easily and evenly mix with ground turkey making the protein so tender and flavorful while also giving the dish a veggie boost. And we all love that!

What cheese is best for turkey burgers? ›

Cheese Options for Turkey Cheeseburgers

Because the cheese is stuffed in the burger, it melts best. Play around with different cheese options. Anything that melts would be great such as Swiss cheese, Fontina, Colby-Jack, Mozzarella, Havarti, etc.

A few tablespoons of panko bread crumbs break up the finely ground turkey; gently tossing all the ingredients together and using a light touch to shape the patties helps keep the texture loose. Baking soda and gelatin keep the meat moist; help with browning, richness, and savory flavor; and provide a juicy mouthfeel.

If we're getting really granular, ground turkey is generally a little leaner than ground chicken. It has fewer calories, less sodium, more iron, and more protein. Still, the differences are almost negligible.

If you choose beef, choose 90 percent lean or higher. Bison and venison are also leaner red meat choices. Poultry such as ground turkey or chicken can be higher in saturated fat and calories if dark meat and skin are used in the mix. If you choose to use ground chicken or turkey, look for breast only.

Ground turkey isn't as flavorful as ground beef, but if you want it to feel a little bit more like ground beef, try adding some Worcestershire sauce.

When overcooked, ground turkey quickly gets dry and crumbly, and loses its flavor. Follow this tip: Keep on eye on the time as you cook, and keep an instant-read thermometer handy. To prevent dry meat, cook ground turkey until it reaches an internal temperature of 165°F.

Chill overnight. A freshly prepared turkey burger mixture can be soft and sticky. Chilling the mixture overnight will firm it up, increase the flavor and make shaping patties easier.

If you let the turkey rest a bit, the juices reabsorb into the meat rather than running out of the bird and landing on the cutting board. Carve it to order. The longer you let it sit after you slice it, the drier it will be. If you need to slice it, cover it with foil or plastic wrap to keep it from drying out.

Place your leftover portions in aluminum foil and add a few spoonfuls of gravy or chicken stock over the meat. Add a pat of butter and close the foil tightly. Alternatively, you can use a casserole dish, but make sure to cover it tightly with aluminum foil to prevent the steam from escaping.